Dragon Quest Novel

by Melania Zveja

  Chapter 19: Pirates

  After Suzanne passed the Test of Courage, they talked to the seers in the shrine again. While Suzanne was taking the test the seers had received a vision of the red orb.

  "I saw a battle on the seas far to the northwest," one of the sages had explained. "A ship was attacked by pirates. The red orb was on one of the two ships. I cannot tell you exactly what happened to it."

  The group believed that the pirates likely made off with the orb. Alice took out a map and tried to pinpoint the most likely area where the battle could have occurred.

  "The Archfiend's territory is the closest to Lancel from the northwest," began Alice. "It's possible the Archfiend has pirates in its employ, just like those cannibals in the area. But then they'd still need someone to attack. Further northwest is the Batay Sea, which is shared by the Empire, Portoga, and Isis. Of course, there is the vast ocean to consider as well."

  "We should check around the major ports in that area then," suggested Suzanne. "See what we can find out about recent pirate activity. With any luck, we'll come across survivors from the pirate attack."

  "It's possible they may even have the orb," said Ron. "The seers couldn't tell us who won the fight."

  The four started with Portoga Castle Town, as Portoga had a rich tradition at sea and thus the highest probability to have pirate troubles. As it turned out, they struck gold with their first try. The Batay Sea had recently been set upon by a vicious group of pirates. These pirates attacked vessels belonging to rich merchant ships and almost always managed to get away with a large supply of goods and prisoners. Somehow, the owners of the ships or the companies the ships served were always on board during the attacks and were usually among the prisoners taken. Nobody knew how the pirates knew to attack when they did, though accusations of inside jobs abounded. However, since ships from both Portoga and the Romalian Empire were attacked, this would require some sort of international coalition, the chances of which were small.

  The four found that the Portogan authorities were not forthcoming with what they knew of the pirates so they teleported to the Empire to see what information they could find there. Emperor Vilisik was more than happy to tell them all he knew of the group.

  "They have become quite popular among some of the common people," the emperor said. "You see, they are not a bloodthirsty lot. So far, we have no confirmed deaths though we obviously do not know the fates of their prisoners. But all these prisoners were wealthy business owners not loved by the people. In fact, a lot of the Romalian ships that have been attacked belonged to companies that are currently under investigation for corrupt practices."

  "You sound fond of them yourself," pointed out Suzanne.

  "I will be perfectly honest, I am in no great hurry to bring them in," admitted Vilisik. "Keep this under your hats, but I believe their victims so far are scum. They always let the innocent deckhands and workers escape and it sounds like they go out of their way to spill as little blood as possible. The only vessels to be attacked but not taken by them are those that took advantage of this."

  "Forgive me, your Majesty, but is it not wrong for a ruler to play favorites with criminals?" asked Thomas. This earned him a shushing and a ribbing from both Ron and Alice. The emperor merely laughed at his statement.

  "No need to be so rude to Sir Thomas, he is quite right," said Vilisik. "If these people fall into my hands they will be tried and punished as anyone else would. But I have other reasons for not sending more of my forces to capture them, the least of not which is the Archfiend who I am sure continues to gain power to the south. I have some ships working with Isis to help prepare them as well. They ferry supplies and arms over but I fear their greatest use will be in helping the people escape after the Archfiend makes his move."

  "I see. Forgive me for my outburst," apologized Thomas.

  "We saw a bit of southern Tarasia in our travels," began Suzanne solemnly. "It was as you said. The only other humans we saw there were cannibals who were working with the Archfiend."

  "That is why it is important you gather as much support to the cause as you can," answered the emperor. "Back to our original topic, why do you want to know about the pirates?"

  "We believe they have an item important to our task. Either that or they recently attacked a vessel that has the item," explained Suzanne.

  "Well finding the pirates will be difficult. I wish I could help you there but I have no idea where the pirates are," said Vilisik.

  "There's the downside to not having focused on them," pointed out Ron.

  "I do have one more thing to add," began Vilisik again. "Many of the attacked companies are investigating their own employees to check for inside jobs. Some see this as rubbish as the pirates are international. Personally, I think there may be some merit to these thoughts. Some attacks have come when the owners were secretive about their whereabouts. Without some information, the pirates are just way too lucky for me to believe it truly is luck."

  "Thank you, your Majesty," replied Suzanne. "You've been a great help."

  After their meeting with the Emperor, the four focused their efforts on investigating the attacked companies and their employees, being as discrete as they could. They had an advantage over the official authorities in that the four were not the official authorities and thus people were much less secretive around them.

  Alice began the investigation by compiling lists and information on all their potential leads. She was put in charge of organizing all the information they came up with and analyzing it to the best of her abilities. Suzanne and Ron frequented social hangouts favored by the employees and got to know them. They asked questions as discretely as they could.

  However, the largest break started with Thomas. Not much for socializing, Thomas decided to volunteer at the local healing houses and to help Alice out in his spare time. After just over a week of investigation, another ship was attacked in the Batay Sea. Shortly afterwards, a man with conspicuous wounds appeared in the healing house. The workers and volunteers at the healing house were not to ask too many questions as to the nature of their patients' wounds as doing so could discourage them from seeking treatment, and so Thomas was unable to interview the man at the time. However, the man was apparently a regular at the healing house and so the other clerics knew a few things about him. Thomas found out what he could and told the other three.

  "His name is John Morrison. He's a blade for hire and so the other clerics don't think much of it when he comes in wounded. He works for a company called the Bear's Arms," explained Thomas.

  "Great name," chuckled Ron. "I assume they have the proper paperwork for a company that bears arms?"

  "Too bad you don't have the paperwork to tell bad puns," groaned Alice. "They are registered, yes. The emperor likes to keep a good amount of information on mercenary companies in his land."

  "What's their connection to the pirates?" asked Suzanne. "Were they attacked?"

  "No," answered Alice. "They have no connection to the pirates as far as I know. They don't even operate on the seas or own any ships."

  "But a sellsword could easily be involved somehow. He could have been hired by the pirates or the victims," suggested Ron.

  "We'll check him out tomorrow," declared Suzanne.

  Suzanne and Ron went to talk with the man and his superiors. They found he had an alibi for his whereabouts during the incident. He had been working on a job on the far northern end of the empire. However, the four were not content with this explanation. Ron and Alice decided to stay at the capital to continue talking with Morrison and his associates while Suzanne and Thomas teleported as far north as they could and went to work confirming his alibi.

  Suzanne and Thomas found Morrison had been hired to help clear out some monsters in the area. Morrison had been hired several times in the area as he had proven an efficient and reliable swordsman. The two compiled a list of dates for when he had been hired. They also made sure to get as many details as they could on Morrison's job
s. The two returned to the capital to see how Ron and Alice had fared.

  "Well, these dates coincide with some of the attacks but not all of them. Some of these dates are not on the day of one of the attacks and we've found Bear's Arms makes liberal use of wings of wyvern for fast travel. Those jobs could not have been to cover up his involvement in pirate attacks," explained Alice.

  "That's what Thomas and I thought but we also had another theory," replied Suzanne. "He could be involved in the attacks, but the pirates have been very good at covering their tracks. If Morrison was only hired out when there was a pirate attack, it'd look too suspicious. It's a long shot but we think that not only is Morrison involved but the people hiring him out as well."

  "Morrison was always hired out to deal with monster threats," Thomas spoke up. "We were hoping you could use your knowledge of beasts to bring some insight to how likely it was that the monsters would move as they did during those times."

  "That's a great idea!" exclaimed Alice. "I'll have to take a look at what you've found right away."

  "What did you guys find out?" asked Suzanne.

  "Well I didn't have much more luck talking with Morrison," replied Ron. As he continued, a grin came across his face. "Alice, on the other hand, didn't seem to have much trouble getting him to talk."

  "Oh really?" asked Suzanne, as a smile came onto her face as well.

  "What is that supposed to mean?" asked Alice defensively, though she was betrayed by a blush.

  "Oh I think you know what we mean," Ron continued. "Tell us, Alice, or should I say Beth, what is your secret? What interrogative techniques have you learned to get this guy to talk?"

  "Nothing!" yelled Alice indignantly. "I just act nice and pleasant towards him! I don't act all big and macho and try to scare the guy! I have the brains to know that won't work!"

  Ron might have taken offense to Alice's comments if he was not so busy laughing. Even Thomas managed a laugh at the turn the conversation had taken.

  "Okay, okay, okay," cut in Suzanne, trying to settle the group back down. "Let's get back on topic for a moment. What have you found out Alice?"

  "Thanks Susie," said Alice, shooting Ron another glare. "Well I haven't found out much yet but I may be on to something. He's very secretive when it comes to his own work, he's told me very little about it. But he can go on and on about his friends and coworkers. He always stops himself and changes the topic before saying too much but the last time we talked he hinted that his chief is into a little more than mercenary work. If he really is involved than I don't think he's the only one."

  "That would fit pretty well," said Suzanne thoughtfully. "If Morrison is involved and there's this big cover up, it'd be pretty hard for him to do all this by himself without his superiors finding out. And most mercenary groups would be quick to throw out or even turn in one of their own involved in piracy. If the law, or their customers, found out they were harboring a pirate that would destroy the company. But if the company is in with the pirates…"

  "Alright Alice, looks like you have a lot of work to do," began Ron, grinning again. "You have to look at all the info that Susie and Tom brought back and then after that you have to get all dolled up and flirt with Morrison until he spills the beans."

  As Alice raised her hand to slap Ron, Suzanne stopped her, "Wait Alice! That's not a bad idea. By the sounds of it, Morrison wants to impress you. Keep pressing him on his work. Also, let him know that you really like gems and jewelry and all manner of sparkly things."

  "That's right," agreed Thomas. "If the pirates really do have the red orb and if Morrison knows this, you might be able to get him to show it to you."

  "Hey hey hey!" replied Alice. "So you want me to analyze all your information and get all pretty and get Morrison to spill what he knows? What are you three going to do?"

  "That's a good point," conceded Suzanne. "Okay here's what we'll do. You give me your measurements and what kind of clothes and supplies you want and I'll get them. Thomas will help you go over the information we gathered."

  "And what about this idiot?" asked Alice, indicating Ron.

  "Ron, if Morrison didn't want to talk to you did any of his coworkers or superiors warm up to you?" asked Suzanne.

  "I did get along great with a couple of his coworkers. I don't know if they're involved with the pirates though," answered Ron.

  "Well find out what you can," said Suzanne. "And remember not to be too anxious with the questions. We don't want them tipping Morrison off."

  The next few days saw a lot of progress. After looking at Suzanne and Thomas' information, Alice concluded that, while not impossible, it was highly unlikely that the beasts moved and acted the way Suzanne and Thomas were told they did. Meanwhile, Alice made quite a bit of progress with Morrison.

  "He wants to take me for a ride on a ship!" she exclaimed nervously after returning from a date with Morrison.

  "What?" asked Suzanne.

  "Well I did what you told me and let him know I was really impressed with jewelry," explained Alice. "Well then he got all excited and told me he could show me a really impressive gem. But it's across the ocean and so I need to go with him on a ship!"

  "That's excellent!" exclaimed Suzanne. "If our guesses are correct, he'll lead you straight to the red orb!"

  "You don't expect me to go on a ship alone with him do you!" asked Alice, freaked out.

  "Alice's right," said Ron. "Not just Morrison but the whole group of pirates may be on that ship. It's too dangerous to send her alone."

  "That won't be necessary," said Suzanne. "We're going with her."

  "That'd be great but I don't think he'd like that," replied Alice. "He kept going on and on about how it'd be nice for us to spend time together on a ship. He never said anything about guests."

  "You know the old saying, 'What he doesn't know can't hurt him,'" said Suzanne, a grin on her face. "Here's what we do. Alice, you meet with Morrison again and tell him you'll go with him but you need to have your own cabin. If you're the only woman on the ship it shouldn't take much to convince him but otherwise just make it seem like you're used to luxury or something. That'd go great with the love of jewelry bit you've been feeding him."

  "Meanwhile," Suzanne continued. "we'll go to Lancel and get a bunch of those invisibility herbs. Of course, they only last so long and we can't possibly stay invisible the whole voyage, so we'll have to take as many as we can and hide in Alice's cabin in the meantime."

  "Alright! Finally some action!" exclaimed Ron. "Great plan Susie!"

  "Don't get so excited," cautioned Thomas. "A large part of this plan involves us twiddling our thumbs on a ship for a few days."

  "Are you sure about this Susie?" asked Alice. "I don't like having to spend so much time alone with someone who may be a pirate or having to string him along like this."

  "Alice, I won't make you do this if you're really uncomfortable with it. But if you go through with this we'll be right there behind you. I'm not saying there isn't risk involved, but it's a risk we'll be sharing with you. And it's not like we'll be cheating the guy out of his stuff. We're not just going to steal the orb if he or his comrades have it. So what do you say?" asked Suzanne.

  Alice gave a sigh and nodded her head, "Fine. I'm in."

  Alice set up another meeting with Morrison and agreed to join him on his ship ride. The other three made the necessary preparations to make the voyage with. They made sure to take as many supplies as they could since they did not know how long the voyage would take.

  "If our supplies run out then we can teleport out," Suzanne had said. "Of course, doing so will pretty much blow the whole deal and we'll have to look for another lead. So everyone's going to need to cut down on food for the trip."

  The first part of the plan went off without a hitch. Alice convinced Morrison to give her her own room and the other three successfully snuck in. Alice would spend most of the day with Morrison while the other three stayed in her room. Alice made sure to be as loud as poss
ible when unlocking her room to alert the others of her return so they could use the herbs quickly and remain undetected.

  However the second part would be touch-and-go. The ship landed successfully in southern Sisten, the continent south of Malandoras. Alice and Morrison went with the crew inland while the other three followed at a distance. In order to conserve invisibility herbs the other three stayed visible and followed the other group at a great distance. Since they were following a much larger group, it was easy to keep sight of them while staying far away from them. The lack of trees on the way also improved visibility. Of course, this was a two-way street. The other three had to slap mud all over their armor and any other visible shiny objects and even then, staying out of sight was not easy. Fortunately, the other group did not seem hyper-vigilant.

  "They must think that if they were followed, they would have seen them on the seas," theorized Ron. "It'd be impossible to tail someone unseen on the seas. And if they saw nobody following them then, how would anyone be following them now?"

  "There's still monsters," said Thomas.

  "But as a large group, monsters will think twice about disturbing them. And since they were able to make the voyage here, they're obviously capable. Even more so if these are the pirates. They may think they can let their guard down a little bit," concluded Suzanne.

  "Speaking of monsters, it's a good thing we remembered to bring some holy water, and you have that spell of yours Susie," said Ron. "We're far enough back that monsters would try to attack us away from the other group and a fight would give away our location in a second."

  The travel over land did not take long. A few tense hours of following the other group and the three were rewarded with the sight of a large building, into which the large group entered. The three stayed outside and waited.

  "I don't like this," said Ron. "It'd be easy to take her by surprise and take her out before she could escape in there. And as far as they know, nobody would ever find out."